


Apogee

by splash_the_cat



Category: Stargate SG-1
Genre: Gen, Implied/Referenced Character Death
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-07-25
Updated: 2014-07-25
Packaged: 2018-02-10 06:18:05
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 385
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2014269
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/splash_the_cat/pseuds/splash_the_cat
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>They're not very brave after all.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Apogee

**Author's Note:**

> Heroes II tag. Ficlet from the oldies file. Started in 2004.

 

"I liked the way you smiled."

Sam looks up from the sweater she folds, refolds ten times over. Her fingers knead the soft wool. It was Janet's favorite. Cassie huddles in the middle of the bed in a pile of her mother's shirts, fingers worrying a loose button. She is small, so small. Clinging to Sam in a dark cold room hundreds of feet down, fingers tight in Sam's hair.

"You smiled, and I thought everything would be okay. But nothing really ever is, is it?"

Sam tries to remember when Janet bought the grey angora. Two... no, three years ago. After they'd celebrated another Sam Carter saves the day with a little too much wine too early in the day, and some doctor-prescribed retail therapy. “This isn’t exactly what I had in mind,” Janet had said when Sam detoured them through the Craftsman tools section at Sears. Sam had laughed and in apology purchased a pair of very impractical leather pants, which made Janet roll her eyes, while Janet had picked out the sweater. Sam folds the sweater again and thinks it's not fair that everyone doesn't get a second or third or fourth chance.

"Some days I'd run away. I'd take the bus and I'd sit on your doorstep for hours, until Mom came and got me."

"I never knew." They’re the first words Sam's spoken all day.

Cassie buries her chin against her chest. "You were never there." She picks up the sweater Sam has so carefully folded and twists it around her hands, rubs it against her cheek. “Why didn’t you want me, Sam?”

Too tired, too empty to dissemble, Sam says, "I was afraid. Of the responsibility, of leaving you alone if anything-"

"And see how well that worked out."

"Cass..."

"I can't lose you too, Sam. I don't want you to go out there and not come back."

"Cassie... I'm sorry." Sam sits on the edge of the bed. She tugs the sweater from Cassie’s fingers and folds it yet again. "You know I can't promise that."

"I know. I don't really want you too. But is it okay if I hate you for it, just a little bit?" She crawls across the pile of clothes and into Sam’s arms, still so so small. "Just for a little while?"


End file.
